Our knowledge of living organisms is still very limited, with less than 20% of the world’s species known to date. It is therefore essential to increase our efforts to inventory biodiversity. This is the goal of scientific research, but it is also a vital responsibility in the face of the sixth extinction. With so many species set to disappear before they can be analyzed, the compilation of this inventory now represents a major challenge.

Thanks to the collaborative work of numerous researchers from the Institut de systématique, évolution, biodiversité (ISYEB) and other institutions, Inventory of Biodiversity Today presents the latest methods of field data collection and analysis. Strategies have diversified and are providing new and ever-more-precise data on a growing number of specimens. All of these data are integrated to delimit and describe living species, and are accessible to as many people as possible, so we can all take action on a daily basis to better understand and preserve our planet.

Violaine Nicolas is Professor at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, France, and Director of the Institut de systématique, évolution, biodiversité, France.